Already last weekend, it seemed like it was already Easter. It was at least as crowded in the forest as you would almost expect on an extremely busy infamous Easter weekend. It was reported in the news that the police fined over 450 motorists for dangerous or obstructive parking. I was always early and luckily only noticed the crowds when I left the isolated boulder that I had been climbing on in Mont Pivot.
This weekend was no different unfortunately, and as I had to work yesterday morning until early afternoon, I was only able to leave late and the roads towards the popular parking areas in Noisy-sur-Ecole were already sealed off with a warning that the parking areas were saturated. It was only then that I decided to go to Boissy-aux-Cailles to work in the still somewhat confidential "Kong" again.
Somehow, I had trouble getting out of the work vibe of earlier that day and despite quite comfortably doing "Kong", using the original method, in two overlapping parts, I couldn't stitch it all together from start to finish. It was nice to Jean-Hervé (Baudot) again though, and nice meeting Laurent.
This morning, I was able to leave earlier, but on my way to Marlanval, I could see the parking areas that I passed on my way, already starting to be filled up. I knew though, that I would most likely be all by myself in Marlanval, where I wanted to try "Mach 4". Despite having worked out the moves separately, the North face of this boulder that rarely sees the sun, was lacking the conditions required for me to do it in its whole. I decided to drive to the nearby Boissy-aux-Cailles again, but this time to try the publicly known but surprisingly not so popular "Alléluia". It most likely lacks the attention that it deserves mainly because it's so isolated from the other better known boulders in the area, but still, it's only across the small field when coming from "Eden Roc" for example. One can practically see the boulder, especially now, when the trees are still stripped from their leaves.
Even though I already knew "Alléluia" for years, I had never tried it before because climbing aretes isn't really my specialty, but as Jan (Gorrebeeck) recommended it, I decided to give it a chance.
I must admit that I wasn't climbing comfortably, constantly having to keep in balance while pulling hard sideways on the arms and not really trusting the feet. It's a pretty high boulder, the top slopers felt sandy and thoughts of falling down with one leg stuck in the crack were racing through my head. No, climbing aretes isn't my specialy and that is probably very visible in the non-aesthetical way that I climb them. Nevertheless, I got there, and I have to admit that Jan was right about this one. This is a beauty!
Sunday, February 28, 2021
February 28, 2021 - Early Easter.
Sunday, February 21, 2021
February 21, 2021 - Past tense.
I have been going to the Mont Pivot a lot lately, mainly for trying "La Voie Active (gauche)", but since recently also "S'Asseoir sur le Passé", the one that starts as for "L'Imparfait du Subversif", but exits on the right of the arete. I had it tried it once when it just had been opened, but I deemed it too hard until I saw someone doing it last week. It turned out to be a good alternative for the times when the crimp under the roof was too humid and I couldn't try the other lines.
It was a tough battle, falling off the arete many times or slipping off my right foot when preparing for the last move. I didn't come out of it without a bruise, especially my legs, but it was all well worth it.
Even though it is an isolated boulder, I haven't been alone on it for the past weeks, but I always enjoyed the company.
Saturday, February 20, 2021
February 20, 2021 - Releasing some air.
With the beautiful Spring-like weather that was announced, I had taken a few days off work to do some garden work, clean out our barn and of course do some climbing alongside.
Thursday morning looked pretty good, but by the time that I finished cleaning out the barn, it had rained and everything stayed wet for the rest of the day. But at least the barn was finished. Friday I went back to hopefully finish "La Voie Active (gauche)", but as the crimp under the roof was wet, it wasn't possible, so I started trying "S'Asseoir sur le Passé", in which I fell off the very last move many times until the skin decided to call it a day.
This morning, a Saturday, with beautiful weather forecasted, and temperatures up to 18°C, it was a known fact that the forest would be extremely crowded today, which it did turn out to be in the afternoon. My muscles felt soar from yesterday, but I wanted to keep moving and at the same time take a break from the boulder from yesterday in Mont Pivot. During the numerous rainy weekends in the months before, I had walked around a lot and for instance noticed this small nice roof boulder about 100m behind and to the left of "Traffic" in Bois des Hauts de Milly. I had brushed off a first wet layer of moss two weeks ago, so it probably only needed another swift brushing and towel slapping to be able to try something on it.
There still is a possibility to open a line that with a sitstart completely left with the edge of the roof, follow the edge to the left and exit in the middle or on the other side of the roof. Unfortunately, the right side of the boulder was wet.
This nice little roof is located at about 50-100m behind and to the left of "Traffic", behind a little chaos of small boulders, on the top of a small hill.
Friday, February 12, 2021
February 12, 2021 - Winter chills.
It took a couple of days longer than only a few hundred kilometers up North, but Winter has finally arrived here too three days ago. A layer of almost 10 cm of snow, depending on how you measure, covered the whole region. With temperatures that didn't go higher than -1°C in the days that followed, the snow didn't melt yet up to today, a day that took off work. A nice wind from the ENE, kept the humidity in the air low. The ideal recipe for great conditions.
There are so many boulders that I can choose from, but due to logistical reasons, I didn't want to go too far. My attention was drawn to the boulder of "Vandale" recently, and I realized that there are still quite a few other problems on that boulder that I had on my radar.
Besides the exit of "Vandale", the boulder was still covered with snow, but luckily came off quite easily, leaving a perfectly dry boulder behind. The conditions felt perfect.
It was still well below freezing point, but I had filled my metal swiss bottle with hot water just before leaving home, so I was able to warm up my hands every now and then. A luxury that I had never tried before, but there, with still -3°C, a cold breeze and almost no sun, it was more than welcome.
I started with "Le Bon Sens", but I had sprained my right pinky finger badly two weeks ago, and it hurt a lot after doing the far move to the left and hanging in compression with a good hold right hand, but one that pulled way too much on that small finger. The decision was quickly made to go for the direct exit instead, "Le Bon Sens (direct)". Same start, but exiting directly with a hard mantle on very bad slopers. One that never came in my mind to try with warmer weather, but with these perfect conditions, I knew I had a fair chance.
I took my time, rested between attempts while keeping my hands and toes warm with the hot water bottle and piece by piece, worked out the moves until I found a good method to reach the higher sloper left hand, thinking the hardest part would be over. As is the case oh so many times, this wasn't entirely correct. Doing the mantle afterwards was still a very tricky move and I'm not sure that I would have made if the conditions wouldn't have been that good.
I was quickly able to work my way through the first part and link it up to the second, but I could feel that I was getting tired. I took a longer rest, warmed up my fingers and toes and went for a last attempt. The first part went like a charm, the linkup into the second couldn't have been better, I prepared for the last part, took a wrong hold left hand, got confused and messed up the very last move. Still not today, but it was a good session.
Sunday, February 7, 2021
February 07, 2021 - Little action lately.
It has been raining for weeks now and the rare dry moments were not in favor of the time I had available for climbing. I have been walking a lot though, discovering parts of the forest that I hadn't been to yet and seeing quite some wildlife in the remote areas that I always found myself in.
This morning there was finally a less wet window and with the noticeable amount of wind, I set off early but didn't go too far. I was hoping that the wind would have blown the boulder of "La Voie Active" dry enough to be able to do real attempts of Manuel Marquès' variations from the start. Even though the right side of the boulder was now dry and in good conditions, the key crimp under the roof was still moist. I was able to climb the first part up to crimp, but couldn't hold it long enough to make any good links into where I started crouching last time.
Being able to do the first part up to the crimp quite easily again, I had built up the confidence even more for a next time when the crimp is completely dry.
I did top another variation of which I couldn't find any existing information. The higher holds in the wall didn't look very used neither, but it's hard to imagine that it hasn't been done before. Not claiming a first ascent, but due to the lack of information, I named it "La Voie Passive" for the time being. Grade could be around 6C, hard to tell.
Sitstart as for "La Voie Active" and exit directly in the wall above. It was fun and it felt nice to top something.